I know there is already a thread for "GOOD custom worlds", but it's pretty dead and most of the worlds suggested on there are outdated now. I finally fixed my computer so that Sims runs at a reasonable level now, but I cannot for the life of me find a decent world which has Ambitions, Late Night, Generations AND Pets lots. I've tried making worlds in CAW myself (but let's not talk about that), and I've also tried updating some of my favourite worlds myself but they never work out. I've tried so many of the 'new' worlds out there, but frankly mostly seem to be compiled of sub par maps and lots stolen from other worlds - or they're just plain crap. Does anyone have any recommendations, perhaps worlds you're playing or one you'd recommend?

I can see how Jfadeworld would be good for some people, but I prefer worlds with trees and pretty and some variation in the terrain, unfortunately. The only world I've found that comes close is the updated version of Queenstown at Awesims, but the lots are REALLY close together which makes for a confusing map sometimes and there are multiple rabbit holes (as in, more than one bookstore etc. on the same lot) which I HATE.

LynxAQ redesigned Sunset Valley in CAW for more room and updated the world to include Pets lots. So it uses all EPs. I am very impressed with this world, lots of room for plopping more lots, and it is populated with the original families. I read the family relationships may be broken, so if any of them moved out, they are not related anymore. Also friendships and all are broken and the cemetery have blank tombstones. It doesn't bother me because I never play the original families, replace them with my own families and lots. You can check it out on the official forums. If you can't get on there, then here is the mediafire link: http://www.mediafire.com/?53dydv0izinj8iv.

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LynxAQ redesigned Sunset Valley in CAW for more room and updated the world to include Pets lots. So it uses all EPs. I am very impressed with this world, lots of room for plopping more lots, and it is populated with the original families. I read the family relationships may be broken, so if any of them moved out, they are not related anymore. Also friendships and all are broken and the cemetery have blank tombstones. It doesn't bother me because I never play the original families, replace them with my own families and lots. You can check it out on the official forums. If you can't get on there, then here is the mediafire link: http://www.mediafire.com/?53dydv0izinj8iv.

I'll give that one a try. I did enjoy SV when Sims 3 first came out, and for a while afterwards, but after that I just got bored and the neighbourhood pretty much died out for me. Ah well, round two!

I really rate MySimRealty's worlds, especially Redwood Harbor, though that is an older one, not updated for Pets. I did manage to find space for the riding school whatsit and a horse park, though space is a bit tight, and obviously it does not really fit Late Night style clubbing (fine by me as there are never any blooming sims in my clubs in the first place).

There aren't that many worlds out there that incorporate ALL the EPs, as creators often try and make their worlds available for as many users as possible, but it shouldn't be too difficult to plonk a couple of pets lots down in somewhere like Glendalough for example.

What are you after? A big sprawling world or a small, easier on the RAMZ, island world?

I really rate MySimRealty's worlds, especially Redwood Harbor, though that is an older one, not updated for Pets. I did manage to find space for the riding school whatsit and a horse park, though space is a bit tight, and obviously it does not really fit Late Night style clubbing (fine by me as there are never any blooming sims in my clubs in the first place).

There aren't that many worlds out there that incorporate ALL the EPs, as creators often try and make their worlds available for as many users as possible, but it shouldn't be too difficult to plonk a couple of pets lots down in somewhere like Glendalough for example.

What are you after? A big sprawling world or a small, easier on the RAMZ, island world?

I've tried a few of MySimRealty's worlds but there always seems to be one or two things which bug me - which I really should ignore and just get on with it as they are wonderful. I was actually playing the updated Meadow Glen and really loved that, although I had some routing issues.

The size of the world isn't an issue for me, but I prefer something generally smaller anyway. It's hard to name specifics, but Neverglade was my favourite world which I played through 7 generations on. I've tried and tried to update it myself whilst still keeping with the general theme of the place (that's one thing I really love in a world), but there aren't really enough lots, or enough space to place new ones. I'm going to give Glendalough a try now though.

Since no two players will have the same requirements from a world (system specifications vary, as do the personal choices we make in how we play the game and what we want from a world), I decided to pick a couple of worlds that were close enough to what I wanted and edited them in-game.

I saved them before I started playing and I always have fresh unplayed versions when I want to start a new neighbourhood.

The world I use most is Bayborough by myskaal, which I found here at MATY.

It has plenty of room to add lots - I've added all the Ambitions lots (except the laundromat), the film set lot from Late Night, and the cat park, dog park, and 2 horse lots from Pets. I've also added a few community lots I built myself.

Since no two players will have the same requirements from a world (system specifications vary, as do the personal choices we make in how we play the game and what we want from a world), I decided to pick a couple of worlds that were close enough to what I wanted and edited them in-game.

I saved them before I started playing and I always have fresh unplayed versions when I want to start a new neighbourhood.

The world I use most is Bayborough by myskaal, which I found here at MATY.

It has plenty of room to add lots - I've added all the Ambitions lots (except the laundromat), the film set lot from Late Night, and the cat park, dog park, and 2 horse lots from Pets. I've also added a few community lots I built myself.

I realise this and I think that's what is part of the problem. I lack the skills to modify a world to the standard I'd like, or to keep it in line with any general theme a 'hood might have. I like smaller worlds that have the LN lots without the high rises and 'big city' feel, and to have little details in the world - such as standard sized lots so that I can place what I want on there, outside flooring that matches the sidewalk and especially street names and building descriptions (a minor thing really, I know.) I have a feeling I'm just going to have to attempt to edit the worlds I really like until something comes out that blows me away, or stop being so damn picky.

I can see how Jfadeworld would be good for some people, but I prefer worlds with trees and pretty and some variation in the terrain, unfortunately. The only world I've found that comes close is the updated version of Queenstown at Awesims, but the lots are REALLY close together which makes for a confusing map sometimes and there are multiple rabbit holes (as in, more than one bookstore etc. on the same lot) which I HATE.

Heh, this is one of my own complaints. Before I just wanted to get it DONE and so quit before really decorating. I can't promise there'll be LOTS of decor next round but I'm going to do something about it. Of course, I also have lots with multiple rabbit holes together, so, might not qualify anyhow.

I really rate MySimRealty's worlds, especially Redwood Harbor, though that is an older one, not updated for Pets. I did manage to find space for the riding school whatsit and a horse park, though space is a bit tight, and obviously it does not really fit Late Night style clubbing (fine by me as there are never any blooming sims in my clubs in the first place).

I've not tried it yet, but there's a new world on MTS which incorporates all the EPs. My only concern is that it might be too laggy for my poor wee laptop.

Already downloaded and played it. My laptop can usually run large worlds pretty well, if not perfectly, but for some reason Jericho lags WAY too much. It may be the addition of hidden tombs, I think, because although I haven't gone on a hunt for anything, I've noticed a few keystones and whatnot lying around. It would be a nice alternative for someone who enjoys playing Twinbrook, because it's got that slightly dark and moody feel about it. But alas, yet again, not for me. I've never been a fan of tombs in a regular world anyway.

I edited the Neverglade neighborhood for AMB, LN, and GEN and have played it extensively (on my Mac). I added:

all the lots for these EP's (most are custom built), which includes all nine bar/club venues

a small downtown/high rise area

3 subway stops that make sense -- I couldn't find more than one place that made sense for the Food Truck and so didn't add it

all spawners except the WA insect/gem/metal spawners, and

24 families (about 70 sims) with interconnected relationships

I had to heavily edit the neighborhood in order to do all this. I also edited/updated every house to make it AM-friendly (cribs) and make sure nothing was broken. For instance, the stairs to the castle lot's entrance came up through the foundation which prevented the game from recognizing the front door. (Plus I made it a proper stone castle and installed a family of vampires. *As a side note about the castle vampires, because of its remote location they tend to get a lot of sun exposure and if you attend a party there it is likely one of them will die. I did give them a teleportation pad but am not able to conclusively say whether this helped or not. I do know that if I put a teleportation pad on an active family's front lawn NPC's use it freely and often.)

I have updated this neighborhood again for Pets, but since I only very recently installed Pets (and switched to Windows 7) the edit is minimal. I simply added the lots and spawners. I did not add any pets or sims with Pets traits/LTW's. I also haven't really played this Pets-updated Neverglade beyond making sure a sim could travel to each new location. Unless the Pets lots are already borked I don't see how there would be any problems, but I can't make any promises.

If you want to try one of these updated versions of Neverglade, you have to download and install the neighborhood first (Google) and then put one of these save files in your Sims 3 save folder. These updated Neverglade save files (both Pets and pre-Pets) can be downloaded here. These save files are not decrappified. In case the sims relationships break, I also included a list of neighborhood sims and their relationships. (I used NRass's Master Conroller).

It doesn't take too long to download and install Neverglade and to load up one of these saves, so you may want to do so just for the lots/houses/sims. I don't know how save files handle the legit vs. arred content discrepancy; my content is a combo of store bought and Moryrie's packages, and again, non-decrappified.

*Edit: I should add that this is the only problem I have encountered in the pre-Pets updated Neverglade, and since I'm indifferent to the vampires I haven't spent a lot of time worrying about this particular family. The second problem with this neighborhood isn't a problem but a feature: it is large. It will require a lot of computer resources to run and it takes a longer-than-normal time for sims to get around the neighborhood.

« Last Edit: 2012 January 04, 03:06:42 by Eeyore »

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"[M]embers of MATY do not realize how badly they are perceived by society, and that people are secretly mocking them in silence." -- cwurtz

MySimRealty has updated both Meadow Glen (medium world) and Winchester Farming Community (small world). I've been playing in Winchester, and it is very well made indeed, with a good mix of pretty and functionality.

Two worlds incorporating all the EPs that I've been playing with lately, and that I like, are "Everything Island with Pets" by ruthlesskk, a non-populated world which is available on her page at the Exchange, and Union Cove by Carl and friends from Carl's Sims 3 Guide, which is available on his forum; this is a populated world.

In my opinion, ruthlesskk is a wonderful house builder if you like her style of house (many of her houses are available at MTS, but not the worlds for some reason) and I often get her worlds just to extract the homes from them because I find them very playable and much better than EA's houses. Her Everything Island world is worth getting for its own sake, though, because it has lots of variety and is well put together in terms of layout. I also really liked her Victorian Bay world (outdated now, with Pets), although it did eventually become a bit too small for a legacy-style of play; this world has a bit more of an urban feel to it with some of the Bridgeport Skyscraper shells in the downtown area. There is plenty of room for customization, too. Union Cove is a very nice world as well, with lots of spawners, but it is so large that a number of people have reported significant lag. There are some weird sims there, some of whom are the self-sims of people from the Carl's forum. These could easily be deleted with Awesomemod, though, if you didn't care for them.

Before Pets, my very favourite world was Nutmegger's Sims 1 recreation of Simsville, a very nostalgic but well-composed world, and also really easy to customize because it is so flat. It has been extensively play-tested too, so I don't think there are any routing issues. Sadly, though, this has not been updated for Pets -- or not yet (someone, not the original creator, is working on it in this thread: http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,21171.0.html).